Asus Eee Pad Transformer Primehttp://www.maclife.com/taxonomy/term/10868/all
enFour Alternatives to the New iPadhttp://www.maclife.com/article/features/four_alternatives_new_ipad
<!--paging_filter--><p class="p1">The new iPad’s finally here, but for some reason you want a different tablet. Maybe you prefer the feeling of an inferior build quality in your hands, or love navigating a fragmented mobile OS and app ecosystem. We kid, we kid! As much as we love the iPad, we’re not here to judge you: Apple’s not the only company out there that offers a bit of the old tap-and-swipe, and if you feel the need to wander away from Cupertino, so be it. To help you on your way, we’ve put together a list of four iPad alternatives that’ll help you stay productive, play and stay in touch everywhere you go.</p> <h3>Amazon Kindle Fire</h3> <p class="p1"><img src="/files/u286882/kindle_fire.jpg" /></p><p class="p1">When it was released in late 2011, Amazon’s <a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/tablets/amazon-kindle-fire-1041946/review" target="_blank">Kindle Fire</a> was touted as yet another iPad killer, but that’s hardly the case. Comparing the iPad to the Kindle Fire is an apple and oranges (see what we did there?) sort of deal. With it’s 1024x600 7-inch IPS screen, a 1GHz dual-core processor, and 8GB of internal storage, the Kindle Fire doesn’t come close to matching the specs of the newest iPad or even the iPad 2. That said, Kindle Fire includes access to Amazon Prime, making it the only tablet that even comes close to going toe to toe with the iPad over the number of movies, TV shows, songs, and books available via the iTunes App Store. Oh, and did we mention it’ll only set you back $200? For those looking for a bit of entertainment on the go, the Kindle Fire’s a low-cost iPad alternative that can’t be beat.&nbsp;</p> <h3>Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime</h3><p class="p1"><strong><img src="/files/u286882/transformer_prime.jpg" width="755" height="566" /></strong></p> <p class="p1">One of the great things about the iPad is that while it’s an absolute champ when it comes to the consumption of Internet content, videos, audio, and books, it’s also a tablet that can be rocked hard when the time comes to get a bit of work done. For tablet buyers looking to find this best-of-both-worlds scenario in a device that <em>wasn’t</em> rolled out by Apple, The <a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/tablets/asus-eee-pad-transformer-prime-32gb-1045764/review" target="_blank">Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime</a> is a solid Android-powered option. While it might not be as portable as the iPad, it’s arguably just as capable. With its quad-core 1.3GHz Tegra 3 chipset, 32GB of memory, SD card expansion slots, and crisp-looking IPS display (Android vendors love them some IPS), the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is a multimedia, gaming, and productivity powerhouse. Perhaps the greatest differentiator between an iPad and the Transformer Prime is the fact that Asus ships the tablet with a full featured removable keyboard/trackpad peripheral that does double duty as an external battery.&nbsp;</p> <h3>Samsung Galaxy Note</h3><p class="p1"><strong><img src="/files/u286882/samsung-galaxy-note.jpg" /></strong></p> <p class="p1">As (misguided) rumors of a 7-inch iPad continue to brew around the interwebz, a number of companies have already cooked up their own diminutive mobile computing solutions. One of the more intriguing of these to see the light of day in recent months is <a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-note-1039199/review" target="_blank">Samsung’s Galaxy Note</a>: part smartphone, part tablet, and all together different from the iPad. With a 5.3-inch screen, it’s a lot larger than most smartphones on the market these days, but still noticeably smaller than 7-inch tablets like the Kindle Fire or the PlayBook. Sturdy and attractive, the Galaxy Note is an Android device that offers the data connectivity of a smartphone and the large amount of screen real estate afforded by tablet devices. Perhaps most intriguing is that the Galaxy Note comes equipped with an integrated stylus, an onboard accessory that most other hardware manufacturers have excluded from their product lines. The stylus makes it possible to draw, annotate notes, and write with excellent accuracy that a finger or third-party stylus simply can’t match.&nbsp;</p> <h3>Blackberry PlayBook</h3><p class="p1"><strong><img src="/files/u286882/blackberry-playbook.jpg" width="600" height="307" /></strong></p> <p class="p1">The <a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/tablets/hands-on-playbook-os-2-0-review-1065846" target="_blank">PlayBook</a> has always been a solid piece of hardware with respectable internal specs, and RIM’s QNX operating system was a pleasure to work with from day one. That said, when the PlayBook was launched last April, its application ecosystem was a huge bag of hurt: the lack of on-device email, calendar, or contact software, and a poorly stocked app store, deeply tarnished the PlayBook’s reputation to the point where retailers across North America were forced to offer the tablet at a deeply discounted price in order to get it out the door. Last month, Research in Motion released the <a href="http://www.maclife.com/article/news/cold_day_blackberry_playbook_20_update_finally_arrives" target="_self">2.0 PlayBook OS update</a>, which included the native email, contact, and calendar applications that should have been on the tablet since the get-go. While RIM’s version of the iTunes App Store -- BlackBerry App World -- still can’t match Apple for the sheer number and quality of the apps it offers consumers, the number of high-quality applications designed for the PlayBook is steadily increasing. What’s more, thanks to the 2.0 update, users can even use BlackBerry-approved or user-converted Android applications on their PlayBook, making the device an increasingly attractive option for anyone working with a shoestring budget.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>http://www.maclife.com/article/features/four_alternatives_new_ipad#commentsandroidappleAsus Eee Pad Transformer Primeblackberry playbookKindle FireQNXrimSamsung GalaxytabletsThe New iPadFeaturesiPadMon, 19 Mar 2012 21:36:07 +0000Seamus Bellamy13573 at http://www.maclife.com